If it is 9.325M or thereabouts and the plan shows they won’t make it, Rick has finally stepped up to the reality many talented experts pointed out several months ago.

What he should have said is: “no one will buy a car from a company that might go bankrupt”.

The economy stinks, money is tight, jobs are scarce – anyone in a position to buy a car is not going to roll the dice on a company like GM.

The few people I know in the market for a car have flat-out declared they will not risk 20 – 30 large on a company that might not make it.

Time to face the music Rick, your company is toast. Chapter 7 may be the only way to recover some equity at this point.

-ted

“It is only prudent for us to be prepared for all options,” Mr. Wagoner said of the possibility of bankruptcy. “But my personal view is that there options that can work in each of the areas – working with the union, working with the bondholders — that can get us to the position that we need to demonstrate viability.”

&

“By March 31, we’ll be able to address whether additional funding may be forthcoming or not,” he said. “We really haven’t said whether we will or we won’t need money after that period.”

Which got turned into an AP story:

“Wagoner: Bankruptcy filing still possible”
“GM CEO says automaker could still be forced to file for Chapter 11 despite federal loans”

Case in point, Back then GM thought they could save money by combining the cars into large and small platforms with slightly different bodies. It was here in the mid eighties that Lincoln would advertise only the town car looks like a luxury car as the GM mini-luxury front wheel drive cars were look a likes (caddy, buick, olds).

They were right and the public recoiled at paying luxury prices for badge engineered blocks of soap. (perhaps a reference to Ron Zarella who came from Proctor & Gamble to sell cars like well soap.)

GM has never recovered from this 50 year reversal of individual looking and designed models by five competing divisions. The right decision 25 years ago,would have been to trim brands if they could no longer support the engineering costs for the separate brands.

Now, Lutz has to some extent made the cars of GM look different with sheet metal but the engineering has been allowed to ossify. Take the Caddy DTS, it has a four speed tranny when others are at seven and eight in luxury cars. (Nissan is gearless) A new DTS is large on the outside and surprisingly small and chopped up on the inside.

Only GM can build front wheel drive and end up with huge driveline tunnels through the center of the car. (check out the rear seat floor of the toyota avalon, it’s almost perfectly flat).

Then there is the smoothness of the Japanese and German powerplants almost across the board compared to GM stuff which is ‘”almost as good”. I could go on to how good are cars made of cheap parts from bankrupt suppliers with a foot on their troat to make the stuff still cheaper?

Oh, it’s a book length narrative that will surely be written when it’s all over.

WASHINGTON – General Motors Corp. today submitted a plan to use Federal bridge loans to create a leaner, more competitive company, one that is profitable and self-sustaining for the long term.

The plan, submitted in response to Congressional hearings in November, includes a detailed blueprint for a successful, sustainable General Motors. Building on a product renaissance and comprehensive restructuring that has been under way for several years, the plan calls for:

Tell us the reeeest of the story Paul Harvey.

So, our money basically kept GM and Chryco going until the 10m/yr 2009 numbers came out?

I guess it’s up to the UAW now to keep both from CH 11/7 –

You don’t need a weatherman to tell you which way the wind is blowing.

How many plans/chances is GM to get. LET THEM GO

C11, restructure, retool, rework,

Are we to just keep on giving our tax dollars to these highly educated disciples of the black hole?

I have attend the NAIAS every year since 1990, I am NOT going this year.

GM = mini government